2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/42252The balance function has been proposed to `clock' hadronization by measuring the charge-dependent correlation length on rapidity. According to the proposal a narrowed balance function would imply reduced hadron diffusion time and therefore delayed hadronization due to a long-lived prehadronic state, a quark-gluon plasma or QGP. I examine this chain of argument in the context of hadronization and rescattering. I then consider the algebraic structure of the balance function and its systematic dependence on the charge correlation length on rapidity. I conclude that the width of the balance function cannot determine a time interval from hadronization to kinetic decoupling, nor can the width determine the existence or temporal extent of a QGP.16 pages, 5 figuresHigh Energy Physics - Phenomenologytext